Job-Related Travel Expenses

You might
be able to deduct travel expenses if you are an employee who temporarily travels
away from your tax home for business purposes. You are traveling away from home
if both of the following apply:

Your duties require you to be away
from the general area of your tax home substantially longer than an ordinary
day's work.

You need to sleep or rest to meet the demands of your work
while away from home.

Travel Expenses

For tax purposes,
travel expenses are the ordinary and necessary expenses of traveling away from
home for a business, a profession, or a job. The following chart lists common
deductible expenses you might have when traveling away from home for business
purposes.

If you have
expenses for

Then, you can
deduct the cost of

Transportation

Travel by
airplane, train, bus, or other vehicle between your home and your business
destination. If you are given a free ticket or are riding free as a result of
a frequent traveler or similar program, your cost is zero.

Taxi, commuter
bus, and airport limousine

Fares for
these and other types of transportation that take you between one of the
following:

The airport or station and your hotel

The hotel and the work location of your customers or
clients, your business meeting place, or your temporary work location

Baggage and
shipping

Sending
baggage and sample or display material between your regular and temporary
work locations.

Car

Operating and
maintaining your vehicle when traveling away from home on business. You can
deduct actual expenses or the standard mileage rate, as well as
business-related tolls and parking. If you rent a vehicle while away from
home on business, you can deduct only the business-use portion of the
expenses

Lodging and
meals

Your lodging
and meals if your business trip is overnight or long enough that you need to
stop for sleep or rest to properly perform your duties. Meals include amounts
spent for food, beverages, taxes, and related tips.

Cleaning

Dry cleaning
and laundry.

Telephone

Business
calls while on your business trip. This includes business communication by
fax machine or other communication devices.

Tips

Tips you pay
for any expenses in this table.

Other

Other similar
ordinary and necessary expenses related to your business travel. These expenses
might include the cost of transportation to or from a business meal, fees for
public stenographer services, rent for computer equipment, and the cost of operating
and maintaining a house trailer.

Tax
Home

For job-related travel expenses, you must be traveling away from
your tax home. The following guidelines clarify where your tax home is
considered to be:

Generally, your tax home is your regular place of
business or post of duty, regardless of where you maintain your family home. The
tax home includes the entire city or general area of your place of
business.

If you have more than one regular place of business, your tax
home refers to your main place of business.

If you have no main place of
business because of the nature of your work or the circumstances, your tax home
may be the place where you regularly live or where your main home is located.
Use the following to determine whether your main home can be considered your tax
home:

You perform part of your business close to your main home and you
use that home for lodging while doing business in the area.

You
duplicate the living expenses you already have at your main home that you
duplicate because your business requires you to be away from that
home.

You have not abandoned the home in which have historically lived
and considered your main home, you have members of your family living at your
main home, or you often use that home for lodging.

If there is no place
where you regularly live, your tax home is wherever you work. In this case, you
cannot claim a travel expense deduction because you are never considered to be
traveling away from home.

Temporary Travel

To have qualified
job-related travel expenses, you can either be temporarily away from home or on
a temporary assignment. You are considered to be temporarily away from home if
your duties require you to be away from the general area of your tax home
substantially longer than an ordinary day's work and you need to sleep or rest
to meet the demands of your work while away from home.

You will generally
be considered on a temporary assignment if you realistically expect it to last
(and it does last) for one year or less. Note: If you are a federal employee
participating in a federal crime investigation or prosecution, you are not
subject to the one-year rule.